The breeder of my red Australian Cattle Dogs sent me a photo today of a Dingo, for obvious reasons. It's not hard to tell that Dingoes were one of the breeds used to create our ACD's, is it? The first photo is Susie (R.I.P.) , Dingo pictured below.

I'll have to get back to you on that, Chico. I am positive you'd need a special licence to keep a Dingo and very secure yards. Then it might depend too on which State you live in. They are beautiful animals but a problem in sheep country, according to a newspaper clipping Viv included with that photo, a property near Broken Hill has lost 3000 lambs to dingoes in the past two years. A Member of Parliament up there is asking for a $200 a head bounty on dingoes now but the Government is unlikely to grant that. Viv reckons the dingo fence is in need of repair so the Government should be spending money on repairing that instead.
The indigenous Australians kept Dingoes as pets for hunting but one book states 'although some natives discouraged wandering by dispationately snapping a foreleg, making the dog a dependent cripple.' It went on to say that as far as could be ascertained, the Dingo was not bred by the Aboriginal tribes because it would run off when it wanted to mate, so pups were always procured from the wild.
I'm sure they'd be reasonable pets in the right hands, with someone who was aware of their temperament and needs.

I have read that many dingo's are now crossed with dogs. Is there any validity behind that?
You can really see the resemblances, temperamentally are there any similarities or are the Dingo's "washed out" in the ACD?
Very interesting GF

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Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyways. ~John Wayne

Dingoes do cross with dogs, yes. Certain people here in Victoria keep Dingoes of pure blood though, and this boy is one of them. They also have them at a Zoo down near Halls Gap, about 30 miles from us. Dingoes are cautious and stealthy and there is nothing worse than a cattle dog that will sneak around behind you to bite. Okay, they are heelers BUT I've known a couple of very Dingo-ish red ones that would slink around, making sure to keep out of your line of vision, before rushing in to bite. I've always liked my ACDs to stand quietly facing a visitor, I just wouldn't entertain the idea of owning the other sort. Here is a photo of one a friend owned, below. My friend was told she should not bother showing this one as it had too much Dingo in it, or words to that effect.
The reason they introduced Dingo was to quieten the breed down. Dingoes don't bark, they work silently, and will howl but that's it. Back when I first got into cattle dogs, you could never trust anyone who bred reds, but also Dingoes, or had a Dingo tied under a tree somewhere. Chances are they thought the cattle dogs were getting noisy. LOL. Nowadays they ARE noisy, so noisy that people accept what is now called the cattle dog shriek. Pity we can't sneak the Dingo back in again. My first red guy had Dingo closer up than he should have, we knew that for sure, a breeder admitted he crossed them, and that dog would sleep on the roof of his kennel, rather than in it. The dingo likes to be up high too. And Susie, in that first photo, I always thought she was feral, anything she could get her teeth into, like birds or big blue tongue lizards, were immediately chomped hard. The cattle dog isn't a washed out version, it actually might be easier to live with Dingoes than cattle dogs. Both have an independent streak, Dingoes might not be as dog aggressive as some cattle dogs though.

This is the sort of accommodation Dingoes need, 8 feet high fences, inclined inwards at the top. (Bit like trying to keep Basenjis confined.) Also,they need owners prepared to commit themselves to an animal for 20 years. Amazing they can live so long, isn't it? My red ACD is 15 in 9 days time, his brother got to over 16, but it may very well be that because dingoes are 'lean and mean' so to speak, carrying no excess weight, they live longer.
A similarity I see in some red ACDs is the obliquely set eye of the Dingo. The third photo shows, Flame, sister to my pair of reds. Different eye set to my pair. Also, Viv kept hers, when they were showing, in lighter condition than mine and must say they had the same fluid fast movement I've seen in dingoes. Hers could go up and down off her outdoor setting as easy as strolling on flat ground.

Dingoes mate for life and this is what they produce. How could anyone resist the charm of this adorable 5 week old baby? I suppose even if I had the money for strong high fencing etc., I wouldn't bring a pet dingo into this sheep area. It'd make farmers nervous and agitated and it could be a target I'd say.